Gaming is an extremely popular form of entertainment. Games, particularly, games of chance and skill in which one or more players play and place wagers on the outcome thereof may be played in a variety of ways, including at a casino or other venue or on the Internet. Of the various forms of games which are available for play, many are played with playing cards. Of these, poker is arguably the most popular.
Traditionally, poker is played at a table with several players wagering paper, coin money or chips on a series of playing cards dealt from a deck of fifty-two cards. This deck is comprised of four suits at thirteen cards per suit. This form of poker requires a human dealer to coordinate the game, including dealing, wagering, folding, etc. One of the problems with traditional poker is that it suffers from the possibility of human/dealer error. In “social” card games, especially poker, the players take turns acting as the dealer, but in licensed commercial gaming establishments, such as casinos, the dealer is typically a non-playing employee. Thus, another problem associated with traditional poker games in this context is the training and retention of dealers. Additionally, another problem associated with traditional poker is that all players must physically sit at the same playing table, often for hours on end.
One alternative form of gaming, with particular reference to poker, flourished on the Internet. Internet gaming became quite successful in that it provided many choices for the players. In particular, Internet gaming was successful because it is fast and convenient, with registration, betting and payouts available from almost any computer with Internet access and with payments typically arranged via a pay service, such as PayPal.
One hallmark characteristic of internet poker is that players at disparate locations are assigned to virtual tables to play against each other. The game is administered by a remote server at yet another disparate location. As such, internet poker games flourished with players across the globe able to play against each other at virtually any time.
Video poker in casinos and other establishments has also become popular. In these games, players play against each other from specific locations where local game servers in conjunction with remote servers administer the electronic games. Video poker or other card games may also be provided by stand-alone machines similar to slot machines. These games typically occur at fixed locations and require installation of at least one local game server at the fixed location.
One major drawback of Internet and stand-alone type games is the lack of the human element. Many people prefer to play poker against other players, due in part to the drama associated with “live” gaming. An advantage of one embodiment of the invention is to incorporate the benefits of an electronic poker game without losing the advantages of live gaming.
Another major drawback is the difficulty in ensuring that playing games over the Internet complies with federal and state laws. By their nature, Internet games proliferate such that it is nearly impossible to ensure that players are located in specific locations or meet other criteria necessary to ensure legality of the games.
For example, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act of 2006 (the “UIGA”) was passed as a part of the Safe Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006 (the “SAFE Port Act”). The bill prohibits anyone engaged in the business of betting or wagering from accepting, in connection with unlawful Internet gambling, credit, an electronic fund transfer, a check or other payment drawn from a bank or any other financial transaction that involves a financial institution as the payor or intermediary. The statute defines unlawful Internet gambling as “to place, receive, or otherwise knowingly transmit a bet or wager by any means which involves the use, at least in part, of the Internet where such bet or wager is unlawful under any applicable Federal or State law.” The effect of the UIGA has been to cause some organizations involved in i-gaming to stop accepting of bets originating in the United States.
In addition, eight states specifically regulate or prohibit i-gaming. Unlike China, the United States does not block or track Internet access. Without such restrictions on Internet access, it is all but impossible to regulate i-gaming by actually blocking an American from visiting certain websites. Thus, most state laws fit into the following four categories: laws against making bets, laws against taking bets, laws against financing of i-gambling wagers, and laws against advertising and promoting Internet gambling. The most common kinds of state regulation are laws against taking bets, and, to a lesser extent, laws against making bets primarily for technological reasons. Laws dealing with payment systems are almost exclusively federal because of the more complex nature of banking regulation and interstate commerce.
An additional drawback of video poker is that it requires rather extensive equipment set up. Typically, local game servers need to be installed in the venue where the games occur. Also video poker oftentimes requires electronic tables and/or other heavy equipment to be installed.